How Economic Recession Has Affected Indian Car Industry

Economic recession has brought a nightmare to theseason but yet it brought no celebration for car
Indian car industry. A steep decline in the U.S automanufacturers. All the leading manufacturers including
industry has devastated the Indian industry as well.Maruti Suzuki, Tata Motors, Ford, Mahindra, and Renault
India is a growing and promising car market that isare struggling to clear inventories by adopting
directly or indirectly associated to the global autosignificant ways of promoting brand image and
industry. At one end, India imports some of its carboosting car sales. Most of these manufacturers have
models including the high-end luxury cars like Bentleyalso delayed their new car launches.
and sedans like Honda Civic as completely built units.In the month of October, Maruti Suzuki recorded falling
At the other end, India exports basic car componentssales of 59,127 units as compared to 64,258 in the
to various countries like U.S and Europe. So, if the autocorresponding month last year. Following the decline,
industry in U.S experiences a tough time, the IndianTata Motors and General Motors also recorded a
industry is sure to have its impact.declined car sales. The overall car sales fell to about
When the recession made its hit, General Motors and9.05% over October 2007 and the production went
Ford were the first one to face the hit. Both thesedown to 12.32%.
leading car manufacturers even filed for bankruptcyLater, Indian car manufacturers though that the
but General Motors somehow managed to sail throughfollowing month will bring some excitement to the
its existing operations.industry. Unfortunately, the sales became worst with
In the beginning of the downturn era, U.S auto sales fellMaruti Suzuki recording a fall of 27%, Mahindra &
down to 32% which further brought down the carMahindra with a fall of about 40%, and Tata Motors
sales of GM by about 45%, Ford by 30% and Chryslershowing a 12% decline in the car sales.
by 35%. With such a steep fall in the car sales, theseLuxury car manufacturers like Mercedes-Benz and
car companies were forced down to cut theirBMW had rejoiced the month of October despite of
production, which eventually put its impact on the Indianfalling car sales. Even these faced a turbulent time in
auto components industry. This is because both GMthe month of November with luxury car sales falling
and Ford source components from India and a cut indown to an unbelievable point.
production forced them to cut down their orders ofLet’s hope that the Indian car industry will come
car components.back to its normal shape with the ushering New Year.
The month of October is known to be a festive